Instruction
Pros v. Amateurs: Shots from 100 yards and 150 yards
I read a great article on a golf blog recently about what distance people think they hit their drivers versus how far they actually do, and it made me think… what is the reality of the 100- and 150-yard shots for the average player? How does this compare to a Tour Professional hitting from the same distance, with the same target, under the same conditions?
So I enlisted the help of a buddy of mine, William McGirt, who finished 85th on the 2014 PGA Tour’s Money List making just over $1.25 million (Hey, William, can you throw me a few bones, pards!?).
For the test, I asked three golfers to hit 100- and 150-yard shots, then charted their CARRY distance results. I know this is a very small sampling of players, but I just wanted to show you the basic idea of what I see on a daily basis with amateur golfers.
Below is the Trackman Analysis of the four players:
- William McGirt, PGA Tour Player
- Tom Stickney, Teaching Professional/Scratch Player
- John, 10-Handicap
- Howard, 15-Handicap
William McGirt (100.6, 98.6, and 103.6 yards)
The Tour Player was much more consistent with his average shot at 100.9 yards, and his “big miss” was only off 3.6 yards. This puts William next to the hole and on the correct tier more often than not, unless he gets unlucky or spins the ball too much once it lands.
Tom Stickney (100.0, 101.2, and 94.2 yards)
The teaching professional did fine, but his “big miss” was off 5.8 yards. This is what we tend to see with the single-digit players. They can hit all the shots, however, their consistency lacks when compared to the Tour Professional.
Howard (93.5, 104.3, and 100.2 yards), and John (102.1, 102.9, and 107.7 yards)
As your handicap goes up, so will the variance of the shots hit from this distance. Both Howard and John hit the ball around 100 yards, but not consistently. Howard had an average of 99.3 yards and John had an average of 104.2 yards. But it’s not the average that is the issue here; it’s the lack of distance control with both short and long shots by both.
Howard’s shortest shot went 93.5 yards and longest went 104.4 yards, giving us a gap of 10.9 yards or 32.7 feet!
John’s shortest shot was 102.1 and his longest was 107.7 giving us a gap of 5.6 yards or 16.8 feet.
Now if the pin was always in the middle of the green, it would not be that big of an issue. But when the pins are in the front or back, which shot is going to show up? This is the difference between chipping on and having a long two putt for par.
For the single-digit player, you must not lose your focus when you have the feel. If you lose your focus, you have the big miss potentially taking away a good birdie chance. For the average player, grooving solid contact is the key. Hitting the ball solid will help you to accurately predict what shot you’ll hit and how far it will go.
Now let’s examine the 150-yard shot from each group of players.
William McGirt (151.4, 149.9, and 151.0)
As a PGA Tour Professional, you would assume that the yardages would again be perfect — and they’re close, with an average of 150.8 yards. But one thing I want to point out is how TIGHT the dispersion is from this distance. You can see his blue dots are clustered very tightly around the 150-yard target. Once again, this gives him the best chance to be around the pin with the most accuracy. Also look at what club he hit versus the other players.
Tom Stickney (151.9, 150.7, and 149.8 yards)
As a scratch player, the talent is there to hit the shots but the dispersion is not even in the same ballpark as the Tour Player. This shows us once again why I should teach golf for a living! I get strokes from the pro, but never enough.
Howard (141.5, 141.3, and 145.9 yards), and John (143.2, 151.9, and 139.6 yards)
With the handicap golfers, we saw a large difference between the shortest and longest shot. However, as the distances get longer, you will see that most players base their 150-yard shot on the one out of “X” that they hit that yardage, not their average!
Howard’s closest was 145.9, but the actual average was around 141, if you took out the last shot. John indeed hit his best one 151.9, but his other two were around 141 as well.
Now let’s look at carry vs. total yardage for these two players.
Howard’s TOTAL distance was 147.4 yards while John’s TOTAL was 152.7. And these are what most average golfers depend on — the total yardage to get the ball to the distance they want it to go. Sometimes this works, but other times it does not. I will say that it is very difficult to judge what is going to happen once the ball hits the ground and it’s best to understand your carry distances. Sadly, most amateurs do not.
So what do I want you to take from this article?
- Tour Professionals carry the ball the same distance every time with the same club within reason.
- Tour Professionals have tighter dispersion patterns than all of us with each club.
- Single-digit players can have flashes of brilliance as it pertains to distance and dispersion control, but the “big miss” is always lurking. It could be due to a lack of focus or a swing flaw that creeps up. It’s your job to figure out what it is so you can be better in the end.
- Average players are OK with shorter clubs in regard to carry distances, but once they get outside 100 yards they focus only on total distance.
- Average players based their overall distances on the one perfect shot they hit out of “X” number of shots instead of the real averages.
- Average players have huge swings in distance due to unsolid shots (fat and thin) that can hamper their distances.
- Average players try and hit the same club as the Pros with little success. Both Howard and John needed one more club to actually carry the ball 150 yards in the air, but never did so on average.
There may be no more painful affliction in golf than the “yips” – those uncontrollable and maddening little nervous twitches that prevent you from making a decent stroke on short putts. If you’ve never had them, consider yourself very fortunate (or possibly just very young). But I can assure you that when your most treacherous and feared golf shot is not the 195 yard approach over water with a quartering headwind…not the extra tight fairway with water left and sand right…not the soft bunker shot to a downhill pin with water on the other side…No, when your most feared shot is the remaining 2- 4-foot putt after hitting a great approach, recovery or lag putt, it makes the game almost painful.
And I’ve been fighting the yips (again) for a while now. It’s a recurring nightmare that has haunted me most of my adult life. I even had the yips when I was in my 20s, but I’ve beat them into submission off and on most of my adult life. But just recently, that nasty virus came to life once again. My lag putting has been very good, but when I get over one of those “you should make this” length putts, the entire nervous system seems to go haywire. I make great practice strokes, and then the most pitiful short-stroke or jab at the ball you can imagine. Sheesh.
But I’m a traditionalist, and do not look toward the long putter, belly putter, cross-hand, claw or other variation as the solution. My approach is to beat those damn yips into submission some other way. Here’s what I’m doing that is working pretty well, and I offer it to all of you who might have a similar affliction on the greens.
When you are over a short putt, forget the practice strokes…you want your natural eye-hand coordination to be unhindered by mechanics. Address your putt and take a good look at the hole, and back to the putter to ensure good alignment. Lighten your right hand grip on the putter and make sure that only the fingertips are in contact with the grip, to prevent you from getting to tight.
Then, take a long, long look at the hole to fill your entire mind and senses with the target. When you bring your head/eyes back to the ball, try to make a smooth, immediate move right into your backstroke — not even a second pause — and then let your hands and putter track right back together right back to where you were looking — the HOLE! Seeing the putter make contact with the ball, preferably even the forward edge of the ball – the side near the hole.
For me, this is working, but I am asking all of you to chime in with your own “home remedies” for the most aggravating and senseless of all golf maladies. It never hurts to have more to fall back on!
Over the last couple of decades, golf has become much more science-based. We measure swing speed, smash factor, angle of attack, strokes gained, and many other metrics that can really help golfers improve. But I often wonder if the advancement of golf’s “hard” sciences comes at the expense of the “soft” sciences.
Take, for example, golf instruction. Good golf instruction requires understanding swing mechanics and ball flight. But let’s take that as a given for PGA instructors. The other factors that make an instructor effective can be evaluated by social science, rather than launch monitors.
If you are a recreational golfer looking for a golf instructor, here are my top three points to consider.
1. Cultural mindset
What is “cultural mindset? To social scientists, it means whether a culture of genius or a culture of learning exists. In a golf instruction context, that may mean whether the teacher communicates a message that golf ability is something innate (you either have it or you don’t), or whether golf ability is something that can be learned. You want the latter!
It may sound obvious to suggest that you find a golf instructor who thinks you can improve, but my research suggests that it isn’t a given. In a large sample study of golf instructors, I found that when it came to recreational golfers, there was a wide range of belief systems. Some instructors strongly believed recreational golfers could improve through lessons. while others strongly believed they could not. And those beliefs manifested in the instructor’s feedback given to a student and the culture created for players.
2. Coping and self-modeling can beat role-modeling
Swing analysis technology is often preloaded with swings of PGA and LPGA Tour players. The swings of elite players are intended to be used for comparative purposes with golfers taking lessons. What social science tells us is that for novice and non-expert golfers, comparing swings to tour professionals can have the opposite effect of that intended. If you fit into the novice or non-expert category of golfer, you will learn more and be more motivated to change if you see yourself making a ‘better’ swing (self-modeling) or seeing your swing compared to a similar other (a coping model). Stay away from instructors who want to compare your swing with that of a tour player.
3. Learning theory basics
It is not a sexy selling point, but learning is a process, and that process is incremental – particularly for recreational adult players. Social science helps us understand this element of golf instruction. A good instructor will take learning slowly. He or she will give you just about enough information that challenges you, but is still manageable. The artful instructor will take time to decide what that one or two learning points are before jumping in to make full-scale swing changes. If the instructor moves too fast, you will probably leave the lesson with an arm’s length of swing thoughts and not really know which to focus on.
As an instructor, I develop a priority list of changes I want to make in a player’s technique. We then patiently and gradually work through that list. Beware of instructors who give you more than you can chew.
So if you are in the market for golf instruction, I encourage you to look beyond the X’s and O’s to find the right match!
Most pros take months, even years, to win their first tournament. Lottie Woad needed exactly four days.
The 21-year-old from Surrey shot 21-under 267 at Dundonald Links to win the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open by three shots — in her very first event as a professional. She’s only the third player in LPGA history to accomplish this feat, joining Rose Zhang (2023) and Beverly Hanson (1951).
But here’s what caught my attention as a coach: Woad didn’t win through miraculous putting or bombing 300-yard drives. She won through relentless precision and unshakeable composure. After watching her performance unfold, I’m convinced every golfer — from weekend warriors to scratch players — can steal pages from her playbook.
Precision Beats Power (And It’s Not Even Close)
Forget the driving contests. Woad proved that finding greens matters more than finding distance.
What Woad did:
• Hit it straight, hit it solid, give yourself chances
• Aimed for the fat parts of greens instead of chasing pins
• Let her putting do the talking after hitting safe targets
• As she said, “Everyone was chasing me today, and managed to maintain the lead and played really nicely down the stretch and hit a lot of good shots”
Why most golfers mess this up:
• They see a pin tucked behind a bunker and grab one more club to “go right at it”
• Distance becomes more important than accuracy
• They try to be heroic instead of smart
ACTION ITEM: For your next 10 rounds, aim for the center of every green regardless of pin position. Track your greens in regulation and watch your scores drop before your swing changes.
The Putter That Stayed Cool Under Fire
Woad started the final round two shots clear and immediately applied pressure with birdies at the 2nd and 3rd holes. When South Korea’s Hyo Joo Kim mounted a charge and reached 20-under with a birdie at the 14th, Woad didn’t panic.
How she responded to pressure:
• Fired back with consecutive birdies at the 13th and 14th
• Watched Kim stumble with back-to-back bogeys
• Capped it with her fifth birdie of the day at the par-5 18th
• Stayed patient when others pressed, pressed when others cracked
What amateurs do wrong:
• Get conservative when they should be aggressive
• Try to force magic when steady play would win
• Panic when someone else makes a move
ACTION ITEM: Practice your 3-6 foot putts for 15 minutes after every range session. Woad’s putting wasn’t spectacular—it was reliable. Make the putts you should make.
Course Management 101: Play Your Game, Not the Course’s Game
Woad admitted she couldn’t see many scoreboards during the final round, but it didn’t matter. She stuck to her game plan regardless of what others were doing.
Her mental approach:
• Focused on her process, not the competition
• Drew on past pressure situations (Augusta National Women’s Amateur win)
• As she said, “That was the biggest tournament I played in at the time and was kind of my big win. So definitely felt the pressure of it more there, and I felt like all those experiences helped me with this”
Her physical execution:
• 270-yard drives (nothing flashy)
• Methodical iron play
• Steady putting
• Everything effective, nothing spectacular
ACTION ITEM: Create a yardage book for your home course. Know your distances to every pin, every hazard, every landing area. Stick to your plan no matter what your playing partners are doing.
Mental Toughness Isn’t Born, It’s Built
The most impressive part of Woad’s win? She genuinely didn’t expect it: “I definitely wasn’t expecting to win my first event as a pro, but I knew I was playing well, and I was hoping to contend.”
Her winning mindset:
• Didn’t put winning pressure on herself
• Focused on playing well and contending
• Made winning a byproduct of a good process
• Built confidence through recent experiences:
- Won the Women’s Irish Open as an amateur
- Missed a playoff by one shot at the Evian Championship
- Each experience prepared her for the next
What this means for you:
• Stop trying to shoot career rounds every time you tee up
• Focus on executing your pre-shot routine
• Commit to every shot
• Stay present in the moment
ACTION ITEM: Before each round, set process goals instead of score goals. Example: “I will take three practice swings before every shot” or “I will pick a specific target for every shot.” Let your score be the result, not the focus.
The Real Lesson
Woad collected $300,000 for her first professional victory, but the real prize was proving that fundamentals still work at golf’s highest level. She didn’t reinvent the game — she simply executed the basics better than everyone else that week.
The fundamentals that won:
• Hit more fairways
• Find more greens
• Make the putts you should make
• Stay patient under pressure
That’s something every golfer can do, regardless of handicap. Lottie Woad just showed us it’s still the winning formula.
FINAL ACTION ITEM: Pick one of the four action items above and commit to it for the next month. Master one fundamental before moving to the next. That’s how champions are built.
PGA Professional Brendon Elliott is an award-winning coach and golf writer. You can check out his writing work and learn more about him by visiting BEAGOLFER.golf and OneMoreRollGolf.com. Also, check out “The Starter” on RG.org each Monday.
Editor’s note: Brendon shares his nearly 30 years of experience in the game with GolfWRX readers through his ongoing tip series. He looks forward to providing valuable insights and advice to help golfers improve their game. Stay tuned for more Tips!
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Hudson
Feb 12, 2015 at 4:24 pm
Let me share with you my numbers tested on TrackMan this Saturday 7 Feb 2015 and my hcp is 14:
Dispersion on 140 yards was 33 yards (min:114 – max:147) or a score of 67 on the Trackman Combine, equivalent of a 5 Hcp .
Dispersion on 160 yards was 24 yards (min: 148 – max:172) or a score of 67 on the Trackman Combine, equivalent of a 5 Hcp.
I believe that the scores of Howard and John in your example are still pretty good as the dispersion is lower than 10 yards, right ?
Mat
Feb 11, 2015 at 11:22 am
I’m missing one thing from this. How does the carry actually matter? I always hear that phrase “no photos on the scorecard.” In this case, it actually seems as if the higher handicappers understood what their rollout was, therefore they understood their carry.
Your point was they didn’t account for carry. I’m trying to square that still…
Barry Martin
Feb 4, 2015 at 12:27 pm
Great article Tom and many useful takeaways. I have only one point of contention…
The point you make about amateurs consistently under-clubbing isn’t quite the whole picture in my experience. As a a regular Joe, there is NOTHING more tragic than saying “gee, I’m going to be smart, club up, and put a nice smooth swing on this one.” You know what happens next – my tension free swing makes great contact and airmails the green by 10 yards. And on most courses I play, I am penalized FAR more harshly for being long than short.
As a mid-80s guy I hit very few perfect shots, and I’ve been burned so many times with this “Humble Long” miss I can’t tell you. It’s why I’ll keep hitting 8i from 150, even if I do it only 5 out of 10 times. With a short miss, I’ll usually have a fair chance at bogey (and a fighting chance to get up and down for par), where the longer club I am just asking for a particularly cruel double (or worse).
Kit Alexander
Jan 30, 2015 at 8:14 am
A nice read but I do have one issue. It states at the beginning that you asked the players to hit 150-yards shots and judged them on carry. This seems a little unfair, given you say the handicap players consistently under-clubbed even though their total distances were both around 150 yards.
Either you asked them to carry the ball 150 yards – in which case you need to re-word the introduction to the article. Or they were asked to hit 150-yard total distances and did exactly that (more or less) but were unfairly judged on their carry distances.
This may seem a bit pernickety but it’s pretty essential to the results and conclusions.
marcel
Feb 2, 2015 at 5:33 pm
no problem with the article and the test: it is accuracy test where you have specific targets. would like to pull a driver to increase your average distance?
it is actually funny that you think your club 7 carry 150yrds but you can hit it only 1:3 and the rest is club shorter.
random dude
Feb 4, 2015 at 4:24 pm
Kit, what you’re referring to is IOA (Inter Observer Agreement), in that, was your data and Toms data similar. The problem is, Kit, you weren’t involved in the experiment, and there for, had no say in clearly defining what YOU though would be acceptable range for the dependent variable (the behavior, or in this case, what people hit their shots to) for the experiment. Tom could go out and do this experiment over and over and it would likely (predictability) yield very similar data, meaning this was both accurate, valid and reliable. To be fair to you, Kit, if you and Tom together conducted the experiment, then you could hash out and define a different scale for the dependent variable.
tom stickney
Jan 29, 2015 at 6:57 pm
Al– I feel you pain sir
tom stickney
Jan 29, 2015 at 6:55 pm
Dave and Drew…thank you for your comments
bob
Jan 29, 2015 at 4:41 pm
you’re
Al
Jan 28, 2015 at 8:14 pm
Try the same tests, with range balls the amateur hits most. I’m a hack, but I’ll find 2 (or more) shots I never saw in the sun with 1 or 3 yards between them. I amaze myself all the time with my consistency of terribleness. It’s a putrid swing, but I seem to duplicate it pretty close with practically no effort.
Drew R.
Jan 28, 2015 at 2:04 pm
Great article Tom! This motivates me to chart my own data and adjust my practice plans.
Dave S
Jan 28, 2015 at 12:41 pm
Enjoyed the read, even if it basically told us what we already knew to be true. I don’t think a person can truly appreciate just HOW good Tour players are until they see it in person. As a 13 hcp, I’ve hit some shots that a TP would be happy with, but the difference is I do it about 1/100 swings… they do it about 90/100 swings. The talent gap is just incredible. I’ve played rounds with a few guys who are run-of-the-mill mini-tour grinders and they will mop the floor with a typical weekend warrior… but they’re not even CLOSE to the talent level of a PGA Tour Pro. And then think about guys in the top 10 – the Rory’s/Scotts of the world – they are worlds above the average Joe.
Andrew
Jan 27, 2015 at 10:13 pm
Do you have record of what club each of them hit from each yardage ?
ken
Jan 27, 2015 at 8:51 pm
I tend to be shorter on my carry with irons. That’s by design. As an intermediate player with an index of about 14, I play for par. My goal is fairways and greens in regulation. two putt and move on.
I go for the middle of the green. Safest place to be for a chance at par. If I get it close and have a opp for birdie, so be it.
Where as my regular playing partners are trying to muscle an 8 iron to a back pin from 155 yds to the middle, I will pull my 7, make a smooth move through the ball and have a much better chance at being on the green in regulation.
I don’t normally play distance. I hit shots. If the distance calls for a 6 but the shot calls for a 5, I hit the 5…I have no ego. Far is fun. Scoring low is better.
bob
Jan 29, 2015 at 4:40 pm
sounds like your not scoring that low
tom stickney
Jan 27, 2015 at 8:19 pm
Vintage and Scott…wish I had time to do more shots but this article was just meant to be a sampling of sorts
Scott Fawcett
Jan 28, 2015 at 6:20 pm
Tom, I certainly knew you weren’t representing it as iron clad fact. I was simply letting the other reader know that their point was likely lost due to the sample size.
Brett
Jan 27, 2015 at 5:55 pm
http://www.thecaddiecard.com Here’s a handy little tool I use to keep my distances on hand. It really works will all the different wedge distances I have…half swing, quarter swing and choke downs.
vintage1976
Jan 27, 2015 at 1:39 pm
Am I the only one who finds it interesting that the Tour guy had better dispersion from 150 than he did from 100?
I wonder when he was last fitted for his wedges?
Scott Fawcett
Jan 27, 2015 at 2:04 pm
With three trials per shot I’d hardly say those results are definitive. If the results were proven to be valid it would likely be the result of 150 being “perfect 9” vs the 100 being a 3/4 56* or something.
tom stickney
Jan 27, 2015 at 1:00 pm
Jamie– couldn’t agree more!
tom stickney
Jan 27, 2015 at 12:59 pm
Super– Brandon is a great guy for sure…William is a ole good county-boy
Jamie
Jan 27, 2015 at 12:09 pm
The golf course is the one place that perception is not reality
superfido25
Jan 27, 2015 at 11:12 am
Pretty interesting (but not surprising) results. Classy of William to partake in this study. My cousin is his caddy, and says he is one of the most down to earth pro’s he has ever worked for.
tom stickney
Jan 27, 2015 at 10:52 am
Thx Marty
tom stickney
Jan 27, 2015 at 10:51 am
The– good call on how to find your yardages
tom stickney
Jan 27, 2015 at 10:51 am
Low– Both…but on the course is the real test!
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Lowell
Jan 27, 2015 at 8:19 am
Awesome article. As a single digit player, you hit the nail on the head. As I get into my wedge play my yardages become more solid as was your example. You are correct again as with my 8 iron, the yardages are consistent but my dispersion becomes greater. As I get into my longer irons, both my distance and dispersion suffer a little more. I think the fact that many a times, we are left not hitting the mid to longer irons that frequently where we are as comfortable as say hitting the shorter/wedges since we tend to play them more. What I notice though in watching the tour players on television is that since they play from the tips, even though they hit it a long ways, a see more of the 6-5 iron shots being used on some holes due to the par 4’s being around 460 plus yards. Could this be a factor. I usually play the back tees and find I am around the 8 iron on in yardages. Yes I know I can practice my 6-5 and 4 iron more on the range but to actually use it in playing conditions more often is my question? What would you suggest.
Steve
Jan 27, 2015 at 9:35 am
Hit less than driver on more par 4s.
The Infidel
Jan 27, 2015 at 7:55 am
@Chris
Great point, but also something easy to rectify. Whether it’s on a BYOB (bring your own balls) range, a quiet corner of the course or just a field where you can hit find a level or flat spot and hit 10 balls. Then set a mark with a GPS, I’ve got a $30 sky caddie 2.5, then walk to the middle of the cluster of 10 balls. Mark it, that’s your average distance.
With more than 10 balls you’ll inevitably form a closer dispersion pattern all things being equal. So what you’re looking for is that one number for that one time you pull the 7i from the bag.
I managed to chart my 4-PW over the course of 3 rounds on a quiet course. It’s not the TrackMan experience but “some” data is better than no data. Good luck.
Marty Griffin
Jan 26, 2015 at 11:44 pm
I had the opportunity to interview Tom and one of the things we talked about was consistency. So it was really cool to read all of these trackman data sets (I love stats). 14 hole good, that sounds about right Tom 🙂
Cheers!
tom stickney
Jan 26, 2015 at 10:21 pm
Sorry, I did not track that information, but I will tell you that the irons of McGirt are not set up stronger as are ours. I use the RSI’2 so you can find my specs on-line.
tom stickney
Jan 26, 2015 at 10:19 pm
Taylor- yardage finders help 100%
tom stickney
Jan 26, 2015 at 10:19 pm
Chris– where there is a will there is a way…
tom stickney
Jan 26, 2015 at 10:18 pm
Awedge- Agree…thanks!
tom stickney
Jan 26, 2015 at 10:18 pm
Kirby– both
tom stickney
Jan 26, 2015 at 10:17 pm
Steve– any tour player is pretty good up close, some just win more than others
Bill Belicheck
Jan 26, 2015 at 9:34 pm
Balls
Steve
Jan 26, 2015 at 9:17 pm
Imagine the difference if you had a good tour player
Kirby
Jan 26, 2015 at 7:10 pm
This was a very interesting article. I went from a 7 handicap to a 2 within a few weeks after buying my first laser range finder.Tom, in your opinion was the amateurs inconsistencies due to strike or mechanics or both?
Awedge333
Jan 26, 2015 at 7:03 pm
Being a high handicapper, I charted every club in my bag. I know my average and that’s what I play. Helps with shot dispersion, confidence and common sense. My scores are dropping because I know (within reason) what I can hit. My game is getting better and I’m getting longer with every club. In the spring, I’ll re-chart.
Good article as always!
Doug Drake
Jan 27, 2015 at 2:14 pm
About 6 months ago I purchased a “Swing Caddie” from Voice Caddie and have been using the averages stored in the device for each club and have dropped my HCP by minimum 3 strokes. Best $195 I ever spent.
Chris
Jan 26, 2015 at 6:25 pm
The ultimate question is not about what the results show, but how we as amateur players can get better at learning our distances? The obvious answer is “consult your PGA pro for lessons”. This is great to work on your swing and get more consistent. However, as your swing becomes more consistent how can we learn our real distances. We cannot afford a trackman or flightscope to measure each shot, driving range balls are generally limited distance which make determining distances impossible, and hanging out on a hole on your local golf course is generally frowned upon.
Taylor
Jan 26, 2015 at 6:53 pm
After I got a laser for distance my club selection has become much more honed in. It’s not the slope version so there is still some guessing when it comes to big drops, but overall, I really know how far I hit my clubs through trial and error. More importantly, I figured out what distance I hit most from (150 yards), so I practice my 9 iron a lot more than other clubs. This really has lowered my score as I know when it comes to 150 I’m dancing.
Double Mocha Man
Jan 26, 2015 at 5:01 pm
Any chance of telling us what club (loft in degrees, not club number) each player hit on both the 100 and 150 yard shots???
chad ryan
Jan 26, 2015 at 4:38 pm
Good article thanks for the info. If you think this is useless information you’re probably not trying to improve. If you want to be better why not compare yourself to a pro? See how far you have to go to do something like shoot under par. That kind of accuracy from 150 is impressive and something to strive for. I know a lot of amateur golfers that can probably outdrive a tour pro…..i don’t know many that can stick it from 150 within 15 on avg.
number crunch
Jan 26, 2015 at 4:12 pm
I’m getting to the point where I’m going to stop watching golf broadcasts and stop digesting the nonsense written on mere mortals compared to a touring pro.
I do not cluster my 9i’s in a 2′ circle from 150y. I do not stop 100y shots within feet of the pin. I also do not book $1+ million in prize money on the tour on an annual basis.
How many times do we have to hear about how @#$%ing good these guys are at golf?
And the industry sits around and wonders why participation is on a negative slide. People who write these articles are shaming the average golfer…the guy who is on tour already knows he’s better than 99.99 percent of the world…this article just reminds the decent player that he will still never be as good as the guy on TV (or the guy teaching him for that matter).
on a positive note…the spelling looked good…keep up the good work!
Brutus
Jan 26, 2015 at 3:45 pm
I’m not going to say these are useless numbers you crunched. But the results and findings seemed to be too simple and generally intuitive to most any half wit. As an 11, I can hit it 2 feet from the flag (occasionally) or I can hit it 20 yards from it (more likely). Would I have thought that kind of lame consistency from a tour player before reading this? Or even a scratch golfer? And now through your study we know that with empirical evidence to back up what we knew. Sadly it won’t do me any good tho holding a club in my hand at 150 yds out…
Connor
Jan 26, 2015 at 3:30 pm
Nice article, Tom. Can’t wait for the snow to melt here in Montana so I can get back after it!
Joe
Jan 26, 2015 at 3:22 pm
This article is a great example of the fact that Pros (a vast majority of the time and only unless the shot requires them to release the ball), hit the ball to or past the flag. Amatures so often, forget to factor in release or in some cases spin. A big part of this is knowing course conditions and how they affect (effect?) the ball. It’s all part of creating consistency.
Joe
Jan 26, 2015 at 3:08 pm
Great, Great, article!!
Kevin-This is extremely useful data because of the conditions. This was done under ideal conditions, and these results are the absolute best they could hope for. On the course under “real world” conditions, with the pressure of a “not middle” pin (which is 2/3 of pin placements on an average course set up), the numbers are just going to get worse. That my friend is useful data, if they are willing to learn.
George
Jan 26, 2015 at 3:07 pm
Useful info. I am not as consistent as your two amateurs, let alone a pro. I love to play golf but hate to do poorly. Practice practice practice. Thanks.
Robert Cadnor
Jan 26, 2015 at 2:54 pm
Hi Tom,
Great article! Two questions. For William’s 150 yard shot, you mention “Also look at what club he hit versus the other players”.
1. Isn’t he using the same 8iron as you and Howard?
2. What were the carry/total for William and your 8irons?
Thanks for the great read. It’s interesting to see the dispersion differences.
-Robert
JEFF
Jan 26, 2015 at 2:15 pm
Talk about a pile of lame and useless info!
Connor
Jan 26, 2015 at 3:28 pm
How can you deem this “useless info”? It really digs into why tour pros are so good week after week after week, and leaves us with practice implications, ideas to ponder, etc.
birdeez
Jan 26, 2015 at 3:45 pm
i could say the same about your comment
Kevin Taglione
Jan 26, 2015 at 2:09 pm
This was cool test but I feel like the data is kind of un-useful. Because they were hitting on the range and same lie every time. not like a golf course. I would have more interesting to track a couple rounds of golf for these 4 players and see their GIR reg % from various yardage ranges (>100, 100-120, 120-140, ect.) Becasue most their misses from what I could see would still be on the green as long as they weren’t going at tucked pins.
tom stickney
Jan 26, 2015 at 1:46 pm
Mark– I did that article a few months ago, check my archives on Golfwrx and you’ll find it. Thx
tom stickney
Jan 26, 2015 at 1:45 pm
Golf- Yes, be mindful of how far you fly the ball, but do remember how the ball usually reacts when it hits the greens you tend to play
tom stickney
Jan 26, 2015 at 1:44 pm
Teaj– Glad you liked the article, take a golf vacation ASAP
tom stickney
Jan 26, 2015 at 1:42 pm
Jason– Agree, but at least this gives you some information to audit on your own
tom stickney
Jan 26, 2015 at 1:41 pm
Thanks Ryan
Jason
Jan 26, 2015 at 1:30 pm
glad to see someone breaking down small things like this. But for the guy who goes to the range to try and do this I don’t think it will reflect the correct data they are after. Your players use balls on the range that is the same ball they play with. From what I know range balls we common people use do not fly the same as the ball I play with.
Teaj
Jan 26, 2015 at 1:17 pm
this makes me want to hit balls for hours to see what my carry and total distances are for each club, because you bring up a good point that all we think about is the total distance. I started doing this with wedges, finding the carry distance but why would we not do this for all of our clubs. if you have a bunker that you need to carry in front of the green on a long par 4 id like to know if I should club up and hope the ball stays on the green and not roll of the back. Oh how I am missing golf up hear in the great white north.
Golfraven
Jan 26, 2015 at 1:15 pm
what I take from it is to be more concious of total distance especially to pins. Often I take the right club for the distane but don’t take the roll into account – well we don’t spin it as well. Hitting it both 100 and 15o yards is key – now I see how I struggled on the 100 yards mark.
Mark Littlejohn
Jan 26, 2015 at 1:03 pm
Very interesting. It would also be interesting to see something like this done for single digit handicappers with hybrids vs 3/4 irons. Hybrids may be easier to hit and get airborne, but I suspect that the average single digit player would spray them as much or worse than they do the 3/4 irons…most hybrids have a built in draw bias. I hit my Mac 1025m 3 iron way better than my 21 degree hybrid, but I use a 17 degree Titleist 909H hybrid as a 2 iron just fine.
Ryan @Front9Back9
Jan 26, 2015 at 12:15 pm
Nice analysis. These kinds of breakdowns are cool to see
Tom Stickney
Jan 26, 2015 at 12:12 pm
Jafar- not right now…sorry
Tom Stickney
Jan 26, 2015 at 12:11 pm
Matt– no chance. I’ll be last! ????
Matt
Jan 26, 2015 at 11:50 am
Oooooo! Do drivers! DO DRIVERS! Haha!
Jafar
Jan 26, 2015 at 11:40 am
I like these kinds of articles. Shows what I might be doing myself. Is there gonna be one for 150+ yards or drives?
D0ch0l1d4y
Jan 26, 2015 at 11:30 am
Nice article, with just one ticky-tack comment. McGirt’s “big miss” on the 100yd shot would be 3.6 yards…not 1.4, correct?
William McGirt (100.6, 98.6, and 103.6 yards)
Zak Kozuchowski
Jan 26, 2015 at 11:57 am
That appears to be our “big miss.” Thanks for the edit, sir.